Pro-Kurdish HDP lawmaker detained by police in Diyarbakir

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Kurdistan24) – A member of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) was detained by Turkish authorities on Monday and later released.

HDP’s Istanbul lawmaker Pervin Buldan, also a deputy speaker of the Turkish Parliament, was arrested in Diyarbakir, according to local media reports.

Police officers arrived at a hotel with an arrest warrant where Buldan and another HDP lawmaker, Meral Danis Bestas, were staying, according to Turkish Hurriyet Daily News.

Police units escorted the two HDP officials to a Diyarbakir courthouse while Buldan drove in Bestas’ car.

The deputy speaker was “accused of membership in a terrorist organization,” and had previously been detained for “terror-related” charges.

At the courthouse, Buldan gave her testimony as part of an investigation carried out by a heavy penal court in the eastern province of Agri before being released later on, Hurriyet reported.

“The police came, disclosed the warrant, and we went to the courthouse with my car under police escort,” Bestas said after the incident.

The HDP lawmaker also criticized the Diyarbakir’s Governor’s Office for denying Buldan’s detention, stating they were “making fun of the public mind.”

“This is called a detention in law,” she emphasized. “A warrant had already been issued for her.”

The HDP later described the arrest in Turkey’s southeastern province of Diyarbakir as “unlawful.”

Since November 2016, the HDP’s co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag have been imprisoned along with 11 other lawmakers.

The detained are accused of having links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who are waging a political resistance against the Turkish government for broader Kurdish rights.

Editing by G. H. Renaud